Is Museveni's removal of roadblocks a ticking time bomb?

President Museveni through the Prime minister Robinah Nabbanja on Wednesday 5th October ordered for the removal of all roadblocks countrywide.

The Premier made the revelation while speaking to business leaders at the Presidential Chief Executive Officers (CEO) Forum at the Kampala Serena Hotel,

“Yesterday, I got a call from the President and he told me that he has been informed of the number of roadblocks we have from one border to another…Some people told him there are about 39 roadblocks. He told me to remove them.” Nabbanja said

This is not the first time President Museveni is banning roadblocks, he banned them in 2014 only to re-establish them in 2016 in a traffic police operation code named “Fika Salama.” This operation however did not last long as the president ordered it to a halt over corruption.

Jonathan Kayembe a resident of of Bombo town is against the removal of the roadblocks citing that this may cause an increase in road accidents.

“I don’t support the removal of roadblocks, road blocks helps a lot on limiting overspending on roads for example here in Kyengera people over speed even when they are passing in town where they are expected their speed to be in 50 and downwards.” he said adding that

“These road blocks at a certain point where very good they had limited numbers of accidents that used to occur on their road, even if they used to cause traffic jams on the weekends.”

The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesperson, Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye said,

“They are not UPDF roadblocks, they are URA checkpoints. I know one on Tororo-Mbale road, I know the one on the road from Malaba. Yes, those are checkpoints of URA,” Brig Kulayigye said.

In 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, President Museveni re-established roadblocks as a way of enforcing Covid-19 regulations and from this time over 39 roadblocks have remained in existence along major highways in the country.